Sting operation recovered Dorothy’s stolen ruby slippers

By Steve Karnowski

Published
1:18 pm PDT, Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Now Playing:

Tap your heels together three times, and you just might find a missing piece of movie memorabilia.

Media: People

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A pair of ruby slippers used in “The Wizard of Oz” and later stolen from a Minnesota museum were recovered in a sting operation after a man approached the shoes’ insurer and said he could help get them back, the FBI said Tuesday.

The slippers were on loan to the Judy Garland Museum in the late actress’ hometown of Grand Rapids when they were taken in 2005 by someone who climbed through a window and broke into a small display case. The shoes were insured for $1 million.

The FBI said a man approached the insurer in summer 2017 and said he could help get them back. Grand Rapids police asked for the FBI’s help and after a nearly yearlong investigation, the slippers were recovered in July during a sting operation in Minneapolis.

The FBI said no one has yet been arrested or charged in the case, but they have “multiple suspects” and continue to investigate. As they unveiled the recovered slippers at a news conference Tuesday, they asked anyone with information about the theft to contact them.

“We’re not done. We have a lot of work to do,” Christopher Myers, the U.S. attorney for North Dakota, said.

The ruby slippers have been called “the Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia.” The shoes were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.

The ruby slippers have been called “the Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia.” The shoes were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.

Photo: Ed Zurga / Associated Press 1996

Photo: Ed Zurga / Associated Press 1996

Image
1of/37

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 37

The ruby slippers have been called “the Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia.” The shoes were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.

The ruby slippers have been called “the Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia.” The shoes were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.

Photo: Ed Zurga / Associated Press 1996

Sting operation recovered Dorothy’s stolen ruby slippers

1 / 37

Back to Gallery

Myers said he would handle any prosecution. The North Dakota link to the case wasn’t evident, and authorities declined to explain it.

The slippers had been on loan to the Garland museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw. Three other pairs that Garland wore in the movie are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Smithsonian and a private collector.

ALSO

The stolen slippers’ authenticity was verified by comparing them with the pair at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History in Washington.

The ruby slippers are key in the 1939 movie. After mysteriously landing in the colorful Land of Oz after a tornado hits her farm in Kansas, Garland’s character, Dorothy, has to click the heels of her slippers three times and repeat “there’s no place like home” to return.